Maine’s House Republican leadership demanded accountability and an explanation from Secretary of State Shenna Bellows after Maine Wire Editor-in-Chief Steve Robinson revealed on Wednesday that a Newburgh woman received 250 state election ballots in her Amazon package.
[RELATED: Maine Woman Discovers Hundreds of Election Ballots in Amazon Package as State Considers Voter ID…]
“The discovery of hundreds of authentic state ballots in a private Amazon delivery is beyond alarming,” said House Republican Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor).
“At a time when Maine people are being asked to weigh in on whether to adopt the same commonsense Voter ID standards used in 36 other states, this shocking breach exposes how vulnerable our elections really are. When ballots appear in household shipments of rice and toys, trust is shattered. Mainers deserve answers, accountability, and immediate action,” he added.
The Newburgh woman was shocked when she opened an Amazon package meant to include rice, paper plates, and a toy lightsaber, only to discover 250 official Maine ballots intended for November’s state election alongside her other items.
Election officials who reviewed photographs of the package agreed that the ballots appeared genuine.
The resident delivered the ballots to the town clerk, but the situation remains extremely concerning, especially coming just over a month before Mainers vote on an important ballot question to increase election integrity by requiring photo ID for voters.
The delivery raises significant questions, such as how so many ballots could be mistakenly sent to a Newburgh woman, and how and why Amazon even had ballots to deliver.
“Secretary of State Bellows has already acknowledged that there are non-citizens on Maine’s voter list and refused to cooperate with federal investigators,” said Assistant House Minority Leader Katrina Smith.
“The integrity of our ballot is the foundation of our democracy. We call on Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to explain how this happened and to cooperate fully with federal investigators. Anything less is unacceptable,” she added.
She demanded that Bellows cooperate with federal investigators, though she has recently refused to do so, telling federal authorities to “go jump in the Gulf of Maine” when they requested Maine’s voter rolls.
After their initial statements, Maine Senate and House Republican leaders submitted a formal request to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI for a federal investigation.
“Given Secretary Bellows’ continued refusal to comply with federal law and her complete lack of transparency, we request the Department of Justice immediately open an investigation into the security of Maine’s elections,” they said.
“We request the FBI open an investigation into potential violations of federal law,” they added.
Numerous Republican candidates issued statements regarding the discovery of ballots.
Ben Midgley, running for governor, called for a full criminal investigation into Bellows regarding the mishandled ballots.
“This ballot scandal demands a full criminal investigation, immediately. We need to know exactly what Shenna Bellows was saying in her texts and phone calls, who the Amazon driver was, and how ballots ended up in an Amazon box with no clear chain of custody. This is not the first scandal to occur under Shenna Bellows, as she spent taxpayer dollars trying to keep President Trump off the Maine ballot just a few months ago. Mainers deserve the truth, and they deserve it now,” said Midgley.
Robert Wessels, another gubernatorial hopeful, also weighed in, calling for election reform and criticizing Bellows for incompetence.
“The longer @shennabellows remains Secretary of State, the more she hurts her chances of being governor due to her incompetence. Thanks for yet another campaign assist, Shenna! Maine needs election reform, we need elections we can trust and we need accountability for our government,” he said.
Another gubernatorial candidate, David Jones, posted a video addressing the controversy on Facebook.
“I woke up this morning to a report in The Maine Wire that there are ballots, Maine ballots, being delivered by Amazon. This is getting out of hand. We have a Secretary of State who is nothing more than an activist. She’s a political activist who’s driving an agenda that is not in the best interest of the people of the state of Maine,” said Jones.
“Is there more of these ballots floating around? Where’s the integrity of our election now? How are we supposed to believe that whatever the results are are actually the results,” he added, “A full investigation is definitely called for.”
Gubernatorial hopeful Bobby Charles weighed in in a similar way, also issuing his statement via a video on social media.
“Maine’s government is corrupt. We are witnessing right now a slow motion coup,” said Charles, “We do not have voter ID at the time we are voting to try to get voter ID, so what do you get? You get 250 ballots showing up is somebody’s yard. That’s industrial strength, that’s industrial strength fraud [sic].”
“In my view the FBI needs to be all over this. I will be talking to them today. The government, The GOP has already gotten to them, The Maine Wire has written a great story, but this is big time stuff guys. This is the future of the state,” he added.
Former Gov. Paul LePage, running as a Republican to unseat Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), joined Midgley in calling for a criminal investigation into Bellows.
“This ballot scandal can’t be swept under the rug. Early this morning a story broke from the Maine Wire that a packet of official, blank Maine ballots for this November’s vote were stuffed into a random Mainers Amazon package. There must be a criminal investigation into Shenna Bellows and the Maine ballots found in an Amazon package in Newburgh IMMEDIATELY,” he said.
“What did Shenna Bellows know and when did she know it? Who handled the ballots? Who delivered the package? Who packed the Amazon box? This isn’t a paperwork mistake. We’ve watched Shenna Bellows admit illegal citizens are on the voter rolls. We’ve watched her try to deprive Mainers’ of their voice by keeping President Trump off the ballot. Enough is enough,” he added.
Bellows has provided a tepid statement to WABI regarding the situation, but has refused to respond to inquiries from the Maine Wire.
Here’s what she told WABI:
“Safe and secure elections are my top priority. As soon as we became aware of allegations of ballots being received outside of the appropriate chain of custody, I immediately initiated an investigation through my Secretary of State’s law enforcement division. Law enforcement is working diligently to determine who is responsible, and they will be held accountable. We will not stop until we have answers.”
